Panasonic 1.6 Cu. Ft. White Countertop Microwave Oven with Inverter Technology - 1250W High Power, Genius Sensor & Turbo Defrost (NN-SN736W) - Perfect for Small Kitchens, Dorms & Office Break Rooms

When my previous Panasonic Inverter microwave oven broke — the door broke irreparably — after nine years of service, there was no question or hesitation in my mind: I needed not just a new microwave oven, but I needed a new Panasonic Inverter Microwave Oven. Once you have had a Panasonic Inverter Microwave Oven, nothing less will do. Panasonic Inverter Microwave Ovens are more expensive than similar size/power microwaves, but they work so much better.Turbo Defrost is almost life-changing. Imagine being able to take a steak out of the deep freezer, frozen solid, and have it perfectly defrosted with no cooking at all and at about 32F through-and-through, needing just maybe ten minutes on the countertop and then ready to cook, and having that done in less than 15 minutes. Frozen solid to ready-to-grill in about 20 or 25 minutes! Yes, you can! Turbo Defrost is absolutely amazing. But, you do need to input the weight of the meat in 1/10ths of Pounds (or 1/10ths of Kg). So, before I put meat in my freezer, I weigh it and mark that weight on the vacuum-sealed bag. Now, cooking dinner is easier. Take a piece of meat out of the freezer and get it going on Turbo Defrost. Get the grill going. Open the wine. Make cocktails. Rustle up a salad and a side dish of two. And now the meat is ready to grill. Even though the meat was frozen solid, dinner’s done in 40 minutes.Sensor reheat is equally excellent. It reheats any wet food (it detects steam to know when to finish) just perfectly.So what is Inverter Technology? I’m an electrical engineer, so I can answer that for you. It is a continuous stream of microwave energy. In almost every other microwave oven, the magnetron tube is driven by the AC mains electric power stepped up in voltage. This means that the power output of the tube rises and falls 60 times per-second. It’s ok, but the resulting cooking is slower and less consistent. Your food heats up and cools down 60 times per-second. The food doesn’t cool down that much in a 60th of a second, so, overall, it does heat. But the results are slower and inconsistent. An electrical circuit to change AC power into DC power is called an “Inverter”. (Curiously, a circuit to change DC power to AC power is also called an “Inverter.”) An Inverter circuit to work at the voltage required by a magnetron tube (around 15,000V) and at the power levels required (1250W in this oven) is expensive. Because that circuit is expensive and because a microwave oven lacking it still overall works, Panasonic is the only manufacturer — as far as I know — to include an Inverter circuit in order to run their magnetron tubes on DC power for a continuous stream of microwave energy. This produces much more powerful and yet much more predictable and consistent results. Once you’ve had a Panasonic Inverter Microwave Oven, you will not be satisfied by anything else.The consistent and predictable results obtained in a Panasonic Inverter Microwave Oven make it not just a trial-and-error device to crudely reheat stuff but a dependable tool for serious cooking.Anyway, I’m delighted with my new Panasonic Inverter Microwave and strongly recommend them to anyone.Traditional microwaves use a magnetron, which is either "on" or "off." When you adjust the power level, what you're really doing is adjusting the amount of time the microwave is actually microwaving. Half power means half the time the microwave is on, it's actually not cooking, and the food is cooling. Imagine if your oven were either off or on 500 degrees, and making a roast meant 5 minutes in, 5 minutes out, five minutes in, 5 minutes out.Inverter microwaves like this actually DO adjust the power level. Additionally, the tech is more power efficient, and lighter. (If it sounds too much better to be true, consider that magnetrons have been in use since the microwave was invented--they're really old tech.) When you set an inverter based microwave to 50%, it effectively makes a 1200 watt microwave a 600 watt microwave. For many purposes, you're still going to want full power nd quick cooking. For some, though, the lower power is great. Ever microwave kielbasa? The casing will split. As an experiment, I microwaved kielbasa at power level 1 in this thing, and the casing still hadn't cracked after FORTY MINUTES, even though the kielbasa was too hot to touch. (It didn't need the whole 40 minutes; I was trying to see what I could get away with.) For similar reasons, this makes defrosting work better in this microwave, as it doesn't have to blast full force and start cooking the thawed places while the inside is still a block of ice.The "smart cook" features work well enough in general, particularly reheat, and are based on a steam sensor in the device. I'm not sure I'd trust it with a steak or my Thanksgiving dinner, but as one step cooking goes, it's the best I've used.The one thing about this microwave that I genuinely dislike is the knob in place of numeric keypad. I expect it's cheaper to produce them this way, but the truth of it is that if I want a minute and a half, it's less hassle to hit "90" on a keypad than turn a knob until it gets close to 1:30, then slow down so I don't skip it, or back up when I do skip it. You also can't get too precise, as the intervals you can set are larger at longer cook times. This isn't a BIG deal, but what if I WANT to cook something for 73 seconds, for some god forsaken reason? I'd either have to put it back in for 3 seconds, or use the multistep cooking feature to set 1:10 and then another 0:03. (The actual intent of this feature is to set up something fairly advanced, like a frozen soup, where you might want full power for speed for two minutes, so it's not an ice block, then a lower power level afterward so you get nice, even temperature instead of super hot top and cold middle.)After a month of use we are so far very satisfied with the white PANASONIC 1.6 cuft Countertop Microwave Oven incorporating Inverter Technology. The microwave is exactly as described on the Amazon/Computer Brain website and surprised us with delivery being a day earlier than promised in undamaged condition.The Panasonic microwave is higher quality than the white Whirlpool 1.6 cuft unit of the same dimensions without the benefit of Inverter Technology when purchased in 2017 at a price not much below today's Panasonic. The Whirlpool only lasted 4.5 years due to the transformer burning out--what a waste of money.This microwave “cooks differently” than conventional microwaves. It’s inverter cooks faster and more evenly. Took a little “learning” but happy with the results.I bought this replacement microwave oven 10 months ago. I only selected it because the size, trim and mounting were consistent (Panasonic model) so I would not have to do a whole scale replacement of the oven and trim etc.Well, 10 months later it does not work. Error H97. I have to take it to a certified repair outlet. *groan* time, effort, inconvenience and although it is withing the tiny 1 year warranty period, experience tells me this will cost me money. I will be surprised if it doesn't. good money after bad? depending on cost I may walk away from the Panasonic. Nobody needs these headaches.Unit works as described.Very satisfactoryAs described, I am happy with this purchase.